Spiderwebs (song)

This article is about the 1995 song. For other uses, see Spider Web (disambiguation).

"Spiderwebs"
A yellow-tinted photograph displaying telephone wires in addition to the song's name.
Cover art for UK CD single
Single by No Doubt
from the album Tragic Kingdom
Released1996
Recorded1994
Genre
Length
  • 4:28
  • 3:50 (radio edit)
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Matthew Wilder
No Doubt singles chronology
"Just a Girl"
(1995) 		"Spiderwebs"
(1996) 		"Don't Speak"
(1996)

"Spiderwebs" is a song by American band No Doubt from their third studio album, Tragic Kingdom (1995). It was written by Gwen Stefani and Tony Kanal, produced by Matthew Wilder, and released as the album's second single in 1996. "Spiderwebs" appears on their 2003 greatest hits album, The Singles 1992–2003. Stefani was inspired to write the song after an admirer recited bad poetry to her. "Spiderwebs" is a ska punk song with angsty lyrics responding to Stefani's potential suitors.

"Spiderwebs" received positive reviews from contemporary as well as past critics, who frequently called it as one of the defining songs for No Doubt. "Spiderwebs" was not released as a commercial single in the United States, therefore making it ineligible to enter the Billboard Hot 100 chart at the time of its release. However, it reached number 18 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart. The song failed to attain top-ten positions but charted within the top 40 in Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

The music video for "Spiderwebs" was directed by Marcus Nispel and released on April 17, 1996. It features No Doubt performing the song at a wedding reception with Japanese attendees. Following the bouquet toss, the party is disrupted by a large number of wireline telephones that fly into the room and begin trapping the partygoers. Stefani drew comparisons to Madonna for designing her own wardrobe in the clip. No Doubt, and Stefani individually, has performed the song in a number of live appearances, including during the group's 1995–97 Tragic Kingdom World Tour, at the 39th Annual Grammy Awards in 1997, and at Stefani's 2018–20 Las Vegas Just a Girl concert residency.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Stereogum album review was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Modern Drummer: Reggae Ska and Rocksteady Grooves" (PDF). Modern Drummer. August 2012. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  3. ^ Yglesias, Matthew (May 21, 2007). "The Ultimate Nineties Alt-Rock Playlist". The Atlantic. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Rolling Stone 10 best Gwen Stefani songs was invoked but never defined (see the help page).